I dont think so, those CRJ200 are for revenue flights to AUA, CUR, SXM, SJU and then SCU/HAV from JBQ, the S340 fleet are going to be assigned to the crew transfers. There are rumours about getting few CRJ700 later to serve MIA. The thing is JBQ runway is just 5,511 Feets, so CRJ200 going to operate with limited weight from there.

Air Century fleet at this moment:

2 SAAB340: HI976, HI999
4 BAE32: HI860, HI772, HI956, HI840
2 CRJ200: OP-2130P (painted), OP-2122P (Star Peru colors)
1 ATR72F: HI1000

First it was CAL dropping its FLL-MBJ after the 1st of the year, now in a major re-alignment of their worldwide system, AA has announced the ending of its non-stop JFK to PAP daily and the big surprise is the end of its 2 daily non-stops FLL to PAP. Spirit aside in FLL, B6 will be the only other option to PAP and now B6 will have a monopoly on JFK to PAP service as well. Watch the fares rise and the service on B6 deteriorate even further.

How is Insel doing? At some point if they survive they will need to bring in airliners to replace their ageing maddogs. Any chance they might look at A220 series airliners to build their future fleet?

jmdc861 wrote:

First it was CAL dropping its FLL-MBJ after the 1st of the year, now in a major re-alignment of their worldwide system, AA has announced the ending of its non-stop JFK to PAP daily and the big surprise is the end of its 2 daily non-stops FLL to PAP. Spirit aside in FLL, B6 will be the only other option to PAP and now B6 will have a monopoly on JFK to PAP service as well. Watch the fares rise and the service on B6 deteriorate even further.

Just for clarity on FLL-PAP, AA will still be serving MIA-PAP which also has AF on the route. Those flights very much do compete with the FLL services from B6/NK. For many So. Fla based people who fly this route, the difference in distance to either airport is negligible and choices will be based on price, schedule, airline preference, etc. All said to say that the reduction in capacity may cause fares to rise somewhat, likely across all airlines, but all the airlines serving the South Florida-PAP market will still likely keep each other in check similar to what occurs on So Fla-BGI with AA from MIA and B6 from FLL.

jmdc861 wrote:

B6 will be the only other option to PAP and now B6 will have a monopoly on JFK to PAP service as well. Watch the fares rise and the service on B6 deteriorate even further.

DL will begin JFK-PAP service every Saturday starting Dec. 22, 2018.

georgiabill wrote:

How is Insel doing? At some point if they survive they will need to bring in airliners to replace their ageing maddogs. Any chance they might look at A220 series airliners to build their future fleet?

The situation at Inselair is still pretty dire. However as of the end of July the airline did chose the US-based One Laser Group as strategic partner and investor. They expect the deal to be finalized by the end of this month. In the meantime Inselair got approval to postpone payments to it's creditors until the end of August as they are running very low on money.

The airline currently has 3 Fokker-50's but only 1 is operational. One has been stored since last year and another one grounded in St.Maarten after it suffered an inflight engine shutdown a few months ago. Since the end of June the airline has been wet-leasing an Embraer-190 from Venezuelan airline Conviasa for it's routes to SXM and PBM, though in the last few days the Embraer-190 has also been operated to Bonaire and if I am not mistaken, also Aruba.

Let's hope that the next few weeks will produce more exciting and positive news.

Brickell305 wrote:

jmdc861 wrote:

First it was CAL dropping its FLL-MBJ after the 1st of the year, now in a major re-alignment of their worldwide system, AA has announced the ending of its non-stop JFK to PAP daily and the big surprise is the end of its 2 daily non-stops FLL to PAP. Spirit aside in FLL, B6 will be the only other option to PAP and now B6 will have a monopoly on JFK to PAP service as well. Watch the fares rise and the service on B6 deteriorate even further.

Just for clarity on FLL-PAP, AA will still be serving MIA-PAP which also has AF on the route. Those flights very much do compete with the FLL services from B6/NK. For many So. Fla based people who fly this route, the difference in distance to either airport is negligible and choices will be based on price, schedule, airline preference, etc. All said to say that the reduction in capacity may cause fares to rise somewhat, likely across all airlines, but all the airlines serving the South Florida-PAP market will still likely keep each other in check similar to what occurs on So Fla-BGI with AA from MIA and B6 from FLL.

I believe you are overestimating that people have no problem with either of the airports and that the "difference is negligible". Unless the $ difference is $100 less on a per person basis from MIA (where pricing has actually been routinely higher) the Palm Beach as well as Broward County folks will stay with FLL. People are spoiled and don't want to go any further than they have to. Just ask any New Yorker as well when offered the choice of LGA or JFK. They will have a stroke on the thought of leaving from the latter, that difference being only 9 miles.

jmdc861 wrote:

Brickell305 wrote:

jmdc861 wrote:

First it was CAL dropping its FLL-MBJ after the 1st of the year, now in a major re-alignment of their worldwide system, AA has announced the ending of its non-stop JFK to PAP daily and the big surprise is the end of its 2 daily non-stops FLL to PAP. Spirit aside in FLL, B6 will be the only other option to PAP and now B6 will have a monopoly on JFK to PAP service as well. Watch the fares rise and the service on B6 deteriorate even further.

Just for clarity on FLL-PAP, AA will still be serving MIA-PAP which also has AF on the route. Those flights very much do compete with the FLL services from B6/NK. For many So. Fla based people who fly this route, the difference in distance to either airport is negligible and choices will be based on price, schedule, airline preference, etc. All said to say that the reduction in capacity may cause fares to rise somewhat, likely across all airlines, but all the airlines serving the South Florida-PAP market will still likely keep each other in check similar to what occurs on So Fla-BGI with AA from MIA and B6 from FLL.

I believe you are overestimating that people have no problem with either of the airports and that the "difference is negligible". Unless the $ difference is $100 less on a per person basis from MIA (where pricing has actually been routinely higher) the Palm Beach as well as Broward County folks will stay with FLL. People are spoiled and don't want to go any further than they have to. Just ask any New Yorker as well when offered the choice of LGA or JFK. They will have a stroke on the thought of leaving from the latter, that difference being only 9 miles.

You're vastly overstating that. Yes, if you live in Broward, the preferred option would most likely be FLL just as if you live in Dade, your preferred option would most likely be MIA. However, people living in Broward do often fly out of MIA, similar to the way people in Dade often fly out of FLL for a whole host of reasons as I outlined above. It's usually price (and it definitely doesn't require as much as $100 per person difference) but there are several other considerations as well in each individual case. There's a reason JetBlue advertises in and around Downtown Miami and that there are several AA frequent flyers who live in Broward and yes, even PB.

A short while ago someone posted that BW has put out an RFQ for a new fleet. Reading on other forums about the Airbus321ULR and B737max9/10 and has got me thinking about trip/route costs and expansion opportunities. Could a fleet of a mix of 320neo/321neo or 7M8/7M9/7M10 allow the profitable re-introduction of routes like GEO/YYZ direct and Caribbean/Europe. I know lots of people on here diss Europe, but the service on BA is pretty poor (not done Virgin) and likely to get worse (10 abreast), and these aircraft are designed for long/thin routes which would likely allow near daily with a creative route structure involving maybe POS, GEO, KIN, BGI, SLU, ANU, etc., like they did in the past with the L1011. Add in some targetted advertising about Europeans re-discovering their caribbean heritage, the warm friendly atmosphere of a caribbean airline, true caribbean cuisine and drinks, perhaps throw in a free inter-island hop or no charge stop-over on the return flight, and I'm sure they could create quite a business. There's no such thing as one model fits all, and we're always seeing new entrants who disrupt the business of the incumbents. Why not here too?

Long-haul for little Caribbean airlines like BW and JM has ended badly, there are several posts in this and other forums as to the reasons why. An end-of-line carrier like BW will always struggle against the big boys, better to focus on what is profitable.

gunnerman wrote:

Long-haul for little Caribbean airlines like BW and JM has ended badly, there are several posts in this and other forums as to the reasons why. An end-of-line carrier like BW will always struggle against the big boys, better to focus on what is profitable.

I always wonder how not being part of an alliance hurts BW. Flying and choosing BW as a preferred carrier is a hard sell for me because of this. No codeshares, no interline baggage agreements, no miles, no lounge access for elites. What happened to their supposed courting of Star Alliance?

time2lyme wrote:

A short while ago someone posted that BW has put out an RFQ for a new fleet. Reading on other forums about the Airbus321ULR and B737max9/10 and has got me thinking about trip/route costs and expansion opportunities. Could a fleet of a mix of 320neo/321neo or 7M8/7M9/7M10 allow the profitable re-introduction of routes like GEO/YYZ direct and Caribbean/Europe.

The problem from what I understood was the GEO's runway was too short for 737 service between GEO-YYZ as they had to be weight restricted to get off especially in the winter when there is jet stream making the GEO-YYZ portion longer. Maybe with the runway extension they can reintroduce the nonstop 1-2w again.

time2lyme wrote:

I know lots of people on here diss Europe, but the service on BA is pretty poor (not done Virgin) and likely to get worse (10 abreast), and these aircraft are designed for long/thin routes which would likely allow near daily with a creative route structure involving maybe POS, GEO, KIN, BGI, SLU, ANU

gunnerman wrote:

Long-haul for little Caribbean airlines like BW and JM has ended badly, there are several posts in this and other forums as to the reasons why. An end-of-line carrier like BW will always struggle against the big boys, better to focus on what is profitable.

Longhaul flying needs a lot of resources to keep such routing under your brand management; in this instance POS-LHR/LGW you need at least 2 a/c to ply the route. If anyone does a SWOT analysis, there is no way BW, JM or even PY can sustain Longhaul flying unless widebodies makes up 30% of their fleet and the aircraft are kept flying 14hr per day. CAL had the 767 in their fleet and it was costing them a boat load to maintain the subfleet, as they were on the ground more times than in the air. LGW was flown 4w and then they tried to fly the other a/c either to YYZ or JFK to maintain productivity.

BWIA made it worked because the L1011s were 40% of the fleet at that time flew most of BWIA's medium-haul routes; POS-YYZ, POS-BGI-JFK, GEO-POS-JFK, sometimes to MIA when needed in the high season. The the other a/c were flown to LHR, FRA and at one time ZRH; and even then BWIA was losing money.

As it stands now CAL is better off expanding to routes within the range of 737, as they can utilize those a/c more effectively rather than going back longhaul and losing money. There are still markets CAL can expand to within 2600nm of either KIN or POS to connect north and south which is where the other problem comes:

captaink wrote:

I always wonder how not being part of an alliance hurts BW. Flying and choosing BW as a preferred carrier is a hard sell for me because of this. No codeshares, no interline baggage agreements, no miles, no lounge access for elites. What happened to their supposed courting of Star Alliance?

No doubt CAL needs to code share beyond what they currently have right now which is nothing really to be more credible long term. There is a plant to eventually enter an alliance with either Star or Skyteam but that was in the 2007-2010 period. I'm not sure now where they are at in respects to that but they need to eventually come to the point that being stand alone will hurt competitive advantages long term beyond POS.

1. Big problem with BW and a code share is that it doesn't bring much to the table. Even POS is "open skies" so its easy for an airline which wants a destination to gain access to it. I bet they want it but who wants them. Now baggage interline is something that can be worked out.

2. PY has a huge problem with its AMS operations and this despite the fact that it is far and away the biggest market into PBM, more than 50% in fact. The small size of fleet is an issue. PY has only one plane to ply the AMS route and it doesn't have other routes to even fully use this plane, much less a second one. It just does 4X, (5X in the peak which is only the summer and Xmas season).

3. With BW seriously struggling on its Jamaica North America routes I don't see any expansion there. In fact as BW is pressured to reduce cash dependency on the T&T gov't it will be forced to drop routes that are a cash drain. It will not surprise me if they drop MBJ soon and maybe even KIN. Competition ex FLL is fierce and if WN enters the FLL KIN market it will be too intense. Jamaicans have definitely signaled the fact that they do not like BW and only support them when nothing else works. DL will soon be entering the JFK KIN market. With GEO being lengthened maybe they will once again consider a YYZ GEO nonstop, at least on the southbound.

4. GEO is becoming more competitive with AA entering MIA GEO this November. Rumors are of B6 doing JFK GEO. Their high yields into GEO will tumble once this happens. While OJ/PY might be the big losers but BW will not be immune.

5. If PY cannot make its Euro route work then BW definitely cannot. One alliance that should be looked at is BW/PY as with the market becoming increasingly competitive PY will be under more pressure and working with BW might take the pressure off. And this is especially if BW drops its KIN/MBJ routes, releasing planes.

I think the notion of WN starting FLL-KIN (at least in the short term) is a bit of a pipe dream. WN's international Caribbean strategy appears to be taking Americans to and then back from leisure destinations. All their int'l Caribbean destinations are high volume tourism destinations for which they would not need to rely on VFR traffic. They've yet to add a single high VFR destination. The only possible exception being their Cuba routes for which the traffic is entirely US based due to the peculiarities of that market. I don't see them starting KIN anytime soon. I'll believe it when I see them add a pure VFR destination like SDQ or even a mixed VFR/leisure route like BGI.

KX announces DEN-GCM
https://www.caymanairways.com/DenverAnnouncement.

Slightly late in the season but Starts March 2. operated with a 737-8Max
Should do well with the scuba market.

Expect UA or WN to counter quickly.

When KX goes into markets like DEN its usually because the Cayman gov't sees a developmental opportunity that the majors aren't willing to service. So I suspect that UA and WN aren't interested. If that changes KX will likely drop the route unless they view it as extremely valuable (JFK) so will continue to ensure that price gouging doesn't occur.

KX440 GCM-DEN 0800-1100 5h00m
KX441 DEN-GCM 1215-1915 5h00m

WINAIR lost one million Euros in 2017
https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/80048-winair-had-shortfall-of-1-million-euros-in-2017

This was blamed on hurricanes Irma and Maria which certainly caused huge damage, but as the load factor in 2016 was 56% it is clear that the airline already had problems before the hurricanes.

wow, sad to hear that..

gunnerman wrote:

WINAIR lost one million Euros in 2017
https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/80048-winair-had-shortfall-of-1-million-euros-in-2017

This was blamed on hurricanes Irma and Maria which certainly caused huge damage, but as the load factor in 2016 was 56% it is clear that the airline already had problems before the hurricanes.

They made significant profits in 2015 and 2016 so I don't think that they have non hurricane related problems. Maybe their model doesn't require high load factors.

WINAIR has a history of losing a lot of money, although there were moves after October 2010 to address this by big staff cuts, sale and leaseback of aircraft and termination loss-making routes. As the industry average load factor is around 80%, anything in the mid-50s has to be regarded as most unsatisfactory.

gunnerman wrote:

WINAIR has a history of losing a lot of money, although there were moves after October 2010 to address this by big staff cuts, sale and leaseback of aircraft and termination loss-making routes. As the industry average load factor is around 80%, anything in the mid-50s has to be regarded as most unsatisfactory.

Keep in mind that the routes that Winair flies don't require the industry standard load factor to be profitable. Routes like SXM-SBH, SXM-SAB, SXM-EUX don't require high load factors and inherently wouldn't due to the payload restrictions out of those airports. I see Nevis as another destination that could tolerate low load factors due to the high fares on the route. The higher demand routes like EIS, PTP, ANU are the ones that would likely be lower yield but higher load factor. So yes, Winair can make money with low loads. It was just the major reduction in flights/demand after the 2017 hurricanes that caused their downturn.

Bear in mind that there is a difference between a fare and a price. The airline files its fares and keeps what it sells, but the price is the fare plus the raft of taxes and charges which go to governments and airports (and which can amount to a significant proportion of the price).

As for load factors of 80%: look it up. It's basic economics in that every airline has high overheads and often has yields under pressure due to competition or weak demand, so needs high load factors to make money. LIAT's load factors are probably around 75% but still struggles financially. It would be wonderful to have high-spending millionaires on every flight but that just doesn't happen. I can't think of a single airline which remains in business without government help on the miserable load factors that WINAIR has.

Profitability matters not just for a route or a short period, it has to be sustained over a long period of time. So, when there is a serious disruption - earthquake, hurricane, volcanic ash, terrorism, etc - the company has the reserves to survive and recover. Little Caribbean airlines will always be vulnerable due to their limited resources and cash flow.

Quick question if transiting POS from the US and going onto another regional destination do you have to clear customs similar to MIA?

Unless there has been a change, I've had to clear Immigration and Customs before boarding my connecting flight. If your bag isn't through-checked to final destination you'll have to collect it at POS, another hassle so check your baggage tag on check-in.

gunnerman wrote:

Unless there has been a change, I've had to clear Immigration and Customs before boarding my connecting flight. If your bag isn't through-checked to final destination you'll have to collect it at POS, another hassle so check your baggage tag on check-in.

Thanks I somehow hoped this would not be the case kind of wishing now I did a non stop flight instead.

InselAir continues to circle the drain as government regulators tighten up their financial reporting requirements on the airline, which has not been properly paying its employees.

http://bes-reporter.com/index.php/2018/ ... -expenses/

guyanam wrote:

303dk wrote:

xdlx wrote:

The only way Seaborne could resemble the shadow of Executive.... is to go beyond 12-16 frames and create a feedstock into SJU.

They also would need international to international visa-free connections. The airport has room to build it, but I don’t see it happening.

SJU as a hub is never going to happen again. As it is most of the intransit activity thru SJU is tied to people travelling to the USVI/BVI. Aside from tiny markets like AXA, SBH, NEV, and DOM there is no longer need for SJU, other than thru to the VI.

SJU could be a viable MINI DXB if they brought HIGH END DUTY FREE SHOPPING with a STERILE AREA FOR CONNECTING TRAFFIC.

xdlx wrote:

guyanam wrote:

303dk wrote:

They also would need international to international visa-free connections. The airport has room to build it, but I don’t see it happening.

SJU as a hub is never going to happen again. As it is most of the intransit activity thru SJU is tied to people travelling to the USVI/BVI. Aside from tiny markets like AXA, SBH, NEV, and DOM there is no longer need for SJU, other than thru to the VI.

SJU could be a viable MINI DXB if they brought HIGH END DUTY FREE SHOPPING with a STERILE AREA FOR CONNECTING TRAFFIC.

That would not help to be honest, most of the region now has direct services to the States there is no need to connect through SJU. Also AA and B6 has scaled back ops in SJU.

baje427 wrote:

gunnerman wrote:

Unless there has been a change, I've had to clear Immigration and Customs before boarding my connecting flight. If your bag isn't through-checked to final destination you'll have to collect it at POS, another hassle so check your baggage tag on check-in.

Thanks I somehow hoped this would not be the case kind of wishing now I did a non stop flight instead.

A region such as the Eastern Caribbean has a small number of nonstops even from a big hub such as MIA, such as BGI, POS, UVF, ANU, GND, FDF and SXM. So, choose a nonstop flight if you can as catching connecting flights can be a hassle. I can tell you of one exception: several years ago (in the mid-1990s I think) I was flying from SXM to BGI via ANU on LIAT. On arriving at ANU, the bags of the connecting passengers were placed on the ground and, after we had identified them, were loaded onto another nearby Dash 8. We boarded and within a few minutes of landing we were in the air again. I doubt whether this happens these days.

xdlx wrote:

guyanam wrote:

303dk wrote:

They also would need international to international visa-free connections. The airport has room to build it, but I don’t see it happening.

SJU as a hub is never going to happen again. As it is most of the intransit activity thru SJU is tied to people travelling to the USVI/BVI. Aside from tiny markets like AXA, SBH, NEV, and DOM there is no longer need for SJU, other than thru to the VI.

SJU could be a viable MINI DXB if they brought HIGH END DUTY FREE SHOPPING with a STERILE AREA FOR CONNECTING TRAFFIC.

SJU's days as the Caribbean's hub to the US are long gone. MIA has supplanted SJU as the primary hub for US/Eastern Caribbean connections. Apart from MIA, there are also smaller hubs that have also surpassed SJU in recent years such as FLL, CLT and ATL. MIA continues to grow as exemplified by AA's recent expansion into the Caribbean (additional frequencies to a number of destinations and the start of GEO & SVD). I also expect further growth in FLL, ATL, CLT before any turnaround in SJU.

In fact POS and BGI. the largest markets in the Eastern Caribbean, no longer have direct service to SJU. An intransit via ANU is needed, and is only available 3x weekly. SLU also lacks direct SJU access.


Not sure why people, including the government of PR, continue to raise this but that ship sailed at least a decade ago.

baje427 wrote:

Quick question if transiting POS from the US and going onto another regional destination do you have to clear customs similar to MIA?

Hey... If you are flying with BW... you would not need to clear customs and immigration in POS... BW has an intransit desk where their customers are directed to security and then to their departure gates.... no immigration, no customs.

baje427 wrote:

Quick question if transiting POS from the US and going onto another regional destination do you have to clear customs similar to MIA?

If you're on BW no, otherwise yes.

Intercaribbean is launching SDQ-KIN starting sept 17. Lets see what happens cause they tried to fly between SDQ and AUA but never flew after 2 date change..

SDQ is adding another ground crew after Menzies get out, Samsic Assistance.

Intercaribbean is getting an AOC in the Dominican Rep. Plans are basing 4 ERJ145 out of SDQ

Dominican market growing very fast after PAWA KO with Sky High, Air Century flying and new projects like Red Air (Laser Airlines Venezuela)(MD80-B737), Flycana (A320), Intercaribbean (ERJ145) and Aerodomca (EMB120)

LimaFoxTango wrote:

baje427 wrote:

Quick question if transiting POS from the US and going onto another regional destination do you have to clear customs similar to MIA?

If you're on BW no, otherwise yes.

Thanks I am using BW usually I would take AA but the price difference was too big to pass up.

Sun Country has announced Minneapolis to St. Kitts & Belize
https://www.suncountry.com/About/News/2018-09-05.html

A388 wrote:

Hi everybody,

Does Caribbean Airlines have any plans to start POS-CUR flights this year? There was a rumor of them wanting to start this route in December(?)


Cheers,

A388

They cannot start any new routes with their ATRs because of their TAB service problems. The question is whether the route can support 738 flights. CUR is a business/quick shopping destination so frequencies are important. Unless the PY flights are always fully booked not sure that BW will look at it.

A388 wrote:

guyanam wrote:

A388 wrote:

Hi everybody,

however, try to tap in to the PBM market to have them connect in POS to fill the airplane. Maybe then the route will perform better.


A388

Doesn't PY already serve this market, and likely to be preferred by Surinamers (yes I know that Insel is back...…..but I expect they have lost much of their credibility)?

Maybe if there is a GEO/BGI market to supplement that out of POS. Depends on where those who cannot/ don't want to get a US visa shop. Used to be SXM but they might be out for a bit. PTY is probably picking up much of this.

baje427 wrote:

xdlx wrote:

guyanam wrote:

SJU as a hub is never going to happen again. As it is most of the intransit activity thru SJU is tied to people travelling to the USVI/BVI. Aside from tiny markets like AXA, SBH, NEV, and DOM there is no longer need for SJU, other than thru to the VI.

SJU could be a viable MINI DXB if they brought HIGH END DUTY FREE SHOPPING with a STERILE AREA FOR CONNECTING TRAFFIC.

That would not help to be honest, most of the region now has direct services to the States there is no need to connect through SJU. Also AA and B6 has scaled back ops in SJU.

Not B6, they’re back to pre hurricane schedule now.

Is there really a need for BW to fly to CUR? Perhaps with the draw down on the Jamaican flights they will have some slackness in the fleet to try some other routes however, its been shown regional travel is not a profitable endeavor in this region.

baje427 wrote:

Is there really a need for BW to fly to CUR? Perhaps with the draw down on the Jamaican flights they will have some slackness in the fleet to try some other routes however, its been shown regional travel is not a profitable endeavor in this region.

If BW had some slackness with its ATR fleet then I can see CUR, much as they added SVD. But I am not sure that CUR merits a 738 especially with T&Ts economy in the doldrums. They are in the process of shutting down their oil refining capacity. That is truly an end of an era for T&T. This will surely have adverse economic impacts on the economy, reducing discretionary travel by Trinidadians.

Sun Country Airlines will start a Saturday MSP-SKB flight from 22 December 2018 to 20 April 2019.
https://zizonline.com/sun-country-airlines-to-begin-regular-scheduled-non-stop-flight-to-st-kitts-and-nevis-in-december-2018/

SY's aircraft will be a 73G with 126 Economy seats.

It's always good to see small destinations get a new service.